Abstract Concepts Brought To Life
by DobbyRocksSocks
Summary: Draco doesn't know if he wants a soulmate. And then he meets Charlie Weasley. Rated for language.


**Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.**

 _Written for the lovely Sam, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it._

 **Beta'd by the amazing Lo.**

 **Word Count - 5011**

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 **Abstract Concepts Brought To Life**

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Growing up, Draco always thought about soulmates in the abstract. Of course, his tutors waxed poetically about the feeling of completeness you gained upon finding the identity of your own, but Draco wasn't particularly interested.

Who wanted to share power? He wanted all the power he had for himself; he didn't want to have to _share._

Watching his parents, Draco wondered if they shared their power. If perhaps his father used his mother's magic, and that was why his curses hurt so much. If his mother borrowed from his father, and that was why her healing spells were so strong.

He wouldn't get his soulmark until his fifteenth birthday, but he was curious as to what it would be. What would be the first words his soulmate said to him?

He'd seen his mother's mark, the _You have the most beautiful eyes,_ that was his father at his most charming. Draco thought that it wasn't surprising that his mum fell for his dad. He doesn't know what his dad's mark says.

Lucius Malfoy would never be seen without his robes; not even in his own home.

...

"It's so romantic," Pansy said, as Draco entered the common room. He rolled his eyes. She couldn't still be talking about soulmates. They still had three years before it even became an issue. In his own mind, he could admit that he would be sympathetic to whatever poor man got landed with her.

She was a nightmare on a good day.

Draco sat down on one of the long comfortable sofas with Theo and Blaise, interrupting the girl's conversation.

"What about you, Malfoy? Any thoughts on who will be your soulmate?" Greengrass asked, raising her eyebrow at him.

He shrugged. "Not really. Then again, I don't particularly care. If they are not of the proper sort, I shan't lower myself simply because of a tattoo."

"Imagine it being a Weasley," Pansy said, giggling. "I'd rather die!"

Draco grimaced. Eww.

…

They were _stunning._ Draco watched from the stands as, one by one, the Triwizard champions battled to collect their golden eggs. His attention though, was not on the champions. As everyone else in the crowd gasped and cried at the champions failures and successes, Draco could only focus on the dragons.

They were so majestic, their scales gleaming in the high sun, their eyes watching for movement and smoke huffing from their nostrils.

He wanted to leave his seat, to go and study them up close and personal. In the distance, he can see the tamers watching the happenings in the arena carefully, and he feels nothing but jealousy that these people knew these dragons.

He wanted that.

When Potter's dragon was brought out, a Hungarian Horntail that looked far fiercer than the others, Draco was in awe. He watched as Potter darted around her head, making her angrier and angrier, when suddenly she reared.

Draco couldn't stifle his gasp as she spread her wings and rose from the ground, the shackles falling away like they were made from cotton wool.

The tamers ran forward as Potter flew beneath her, snatching up the golden egg. Draco watched as they worked together to get her calm. Draco was sold. He wanted that. He wanted to do that. A red haired male swiped at his brow, and Draco watched him as he neared the horntail, gentle hands stroking at her scales.

He could see that the man truly cared for the dragon.

Later that day, when the excitement in the castle had calmed, Draco stood at the window in the library, watching the trainers loading themselves up. The redhead had left his mind, the dragons had not.

Checking out three books on Hungarian Horntails, Draco returned to his dorm.

That night, he dreamt of wings holding him high in the sky, a feeling of freedom running through his veins.

…

He watched the seconds tick down on the clock, his eyes flicking between the slow moving hands, and his own right forearm.

As the clock struck midnight, faint black marks appeared growing darker and darker until words could be made out on his pale skin.

 _ **Bloody fucking hell, are you alright?**_

Draco blinked.

He didn't know what he'd been expecting but that… that was not it. Covering his arm with his pyjama sleeve, Draco leant back against the pillows. He didn't really know what to think. What was going to happen that those words were even necessary? And what kind of a woman spoke like that anyway?

Certainly not one of proper breeding. His heart sank when he thought about his father's reaction to this. Draco couldn't hide it; he knew that much. His father wouldn't stand for such disobedience, and he knew his letter would be expected at the manor tomorrow.

Sighing to himself, Draco rolled onto his side, his left hand gripping his arm where the words were hidden.

Oddly, it warmed him slightly on the inside. A comforting feeling that he'd never felt before.

Closing his eyes, he succumbed to sleep, enjoying his favourite recurring dream of being held up high by wings. Only this time, there were steady hands on his waist and a warm comfort behind him.

…

Draco winced as he shifted on his bed, the lashes on his back a stark reminder of how unhappy his father was with him at the moment.

There had been strikes for the soulmark on his arm, and further strikes for yet again not coming at the top of the year.

His mother would be along soon to ease the pain, to heal him enough that he could move without debilitating pain, but not so much that his father wouldn't deem it necessary to repeat the process.

It was a balancing act that she measured perfectly.

He admired that about her. He admired a lot of things about his mother, but he wondered to himself why she stayed with his father. Soulmates were difficult to separate but not impossible. Part of Draco knew his mother remained for him, but he wished she hadn't in many ways.

He had an escape in Hogwarts for nine months of the year.

She had no escape.

…

The mark on his left arm was ugly and it hurt like hell. Draco would have rather taken a hundred lashes by his father's wand to the pain of the Dark Lord putting his mark on Draco's skin.

Draco couldn't help but wonder what his younger self was thinking when he wished for this to happen.

He didn't want this now.

And yet, the figurative wand resting on his mother's head was enough to make him do anything. He would fight for _her_ life, because she was the only person that mattered to him.

She was the only one worth more to him than himself.

…

He cried silently into his pillow. He was weak, and he'd failed, and his mother would possibly pay the ultimate price for that. Snape had tried to comfort him when they'd escaped from Hogwarts following Snape performing the job that Draco couldn't, but Draco didn't believe in the softly spoken assurances that his mother would be fine.

He wanted to see her for himself, and nobody would allow him near her.

Perhaps this was to be his punishment, this not knowing. If it was, then it was agony. Draco would take physical pain over this anguish any time. At least he knew that, eventually, physical pain stopped hurting.

This pain was never ending.

…

"Why did you lie?"

Draco blinked at Narcissa. "What do you mean?"

"You knew that was Potter, just as I did," she whispered. "Why did you lie to your aunt?"

Shaking his head, Draco remained silent as his mother took care of the cuts and bruises Bellatrix had inflicted on him in her anger.

As his mother stood to leave, he caught her hand. "Potter is the best chance for freedom for you."

Narcissa smiled sadly, bending down to kiss his head. "And for you," she replied. "Sleep, my little dragon."

Draco watched her go, and a single tear slid down his cheek. She hadn't called him that since he was six years old, when his father had forbidden 'ridiculous nicknames.'

...

Draco sat at the Slytherin table in complete disbelief. He knew that, at any moment, Aurors would arrive to escort them to waiting cells for trial, but even that couldn't stop the immense relief of it being _over._

He may not be a free man; he would undoubtedly be tried for his crimes, but he was still free of the burn of the dark mark. He was free of the fear that the Dark Lord inflicted for his own amusement.

His mother stroked his hand held inbetween her own, a small smile on her face as she looked over the hall. His father sat on his other side, diminished by his spell in Azkaban but also by being on the wrong side of the Dark Lord's ire one too many times.

Draco didn't really recognise the man he'd become, but he thought perhaps that this man was a better one than before.

…

"Why did you do it?" Draco asked, as the guard handed him his wand.

Potter stared at him for a long moment. "It was the right thing to do."

"Spare me your morals, Potter, why did you save me from a sentence I deserved?"

Shaking his head, Potter sighed. "Enough has been lost in this war, and honestly, Malfoy, what did you do other than protect your mother? I can't say I wouldn't have done exactly what you did, but I saw you on that night on the Astronomy Tower, and you _were_ lowering your wand. Everyone deserves a second chance, Malfoy. Don't fuck yours up."

Draco could only watch as Potter walked away from him. Loath as he was to take anything from Potter, he couldn't deny that the advice was sound.

…

Draco waited on the front steps of the manor, watching the owl fly towards him. In its claws, it held the answer to Draco's future, and more importantly, to his freedom. When it arrived, landing on the railing by the door, Draco quickly untied the letter, paying no mind to the vicious beak pecking at his impatient hands.

He read the letter once then twice. Hands landed on his shoulders, making him jump.

"Well?"

He turned to his mother, a wide smile on his face. "They accepted me."

She beamed at him, wrapping him in a hug that warmed him from the inside. He could practically feel the pride emanating from her.

"Of course they did, they would have been ridiculous not to," she murmured, kissing his temple. "I'm proud of you, Dragon."

She left him to his thoughts with the order that a celebratory breakfast would be ready in ten minutes.

"I'm going to Romania," he muttered to himself, gripping the letter tightly. "I'm free."

…

There are five of them, and long distance portkeys were only made for four. Draco stood to the side as the others argued amongst themselves over who would travel on the second portkey with the tamer who'd come to pick them up.

Draco was surprised when he recognised the tamer. It was the redhead who'd been at Hogwarts. He watched the man talk to the one arranging the portkeys. The redhead looked at the arguing trainees and rolled his eyes, before he nodded to Draco. "I'll take that one with me."

They were silent as they each grabbed one side of the paper they'd been given, and though the redhead smiled and nodded in greeting, they didn't exchange words.

Draco knew he was being rude by not introducing himself, but he was trying to convince his stomach not to vacate its contents and didn't really care about being rude in that moment.

The telltale jerk was more uncomfortable than normal, the spinning more violent. The paper shook between them, threatening to tear in half, but Draco held on, repeating a mantra of ' _It'll be over soon'_ in his mind.

Except it wasn't. The shaking got more violent, and then a flash of light blinded Draco and he was free falling through the air.

…

He landed hard, tumbling head over heels before he rolled to a stop.

"Bloody fucking hell, are you alright?" the redhead gasped out.

Draco lifted his head to see he'd landed just a little way away. He had a couple of grazes on his face, Draco supposed from the hard landing.

The words took a moment to filter through his clouded mind, and he muttered, "Fine, I'm fine, what happened?"

And then realisation hit. He sat upright, staring at the redhead, who was staring right back at him with equal disbelief.

"You're…" Draco murmured, unable to finish the sentence.

The redhead blinked. "Apparently. Shit, are those the words you have written on your arm? Dammit, I'm sorry."

"It's… fine." Draco wasn't really sure what to say. He'd never expected his soulmate to be a man, though he knew it happened occasionally. "But really, what happened?"

The redhead shrugged, then stood up. "I have no idea. Oh. I'm Charlie. Charlie Weasley. You're Draco, right?"

Draco nodded silently. A long forgotten conversation from the Slytherin common room echoed in his mind. _A Weasley. Eww._

And yet… he wasn't disgusted at the idea of the man in front of him being his soulmate. Putting the thought out of his mind to deal with later, he asked, "Do you have any idea where we are?"

Charlie shook his head. "No, but um." He pulled his wand from his pocket and cast a location spell. Instead of doing what it was supposed to; giving them their location; the wand flashed with a blinding white light and Charlie was thrown back.

Draco looked around him, taking in their surroundings. They were on a beach, the sand soft beneath him. Draco could only be grateful for that, the sea lapping at the shore would have been a far more uncomfortable landing.

"We're on an island," he muttered to himself, pushing himself gingerly to his feet. "And we apparently can't use magic."

"Do you always state the obvious, or is this the shock talking?" Charlie asked him as he approached, a large grin on his face, his hair a mess from being thrown.

Draco rolled his eyes. "What are we supposed to do?"

Charlie sighed. "Find food. Somewhere to shelter for at least tonight. Firewood."

"How are we supposed to build a fire when magic is clearly a bad idea?"

Charlie let out a guffawing laugh.

"Can't we just Apparate out?" Draco asked, after the redhead stopped laughing but didn't offer up any answers.

Shaking his head, Charlie replied, "Probably not a good idea since we don't know where we are, and, well, you saw what happened and that was just a location spell. You really want to try it out with apparition?"

Draco sighed. The man had a point.

…

They collected berries from the edges of the forest of the island, Charlie double and triple checking the ones that Draco was picking. He'd made a few noises about hunting deeper into the forest for an animal for them to eat, but Draco had waved him off, stating that they had more important things to think about for the moment.

Once they had a sizeable pile of berries to eat, Charlie set Draco to collecting wood for a fire while he made a shelter from palm fronds.

Hours later, and Draco was about ready to collapse.

"I wasn't made for manual labour," he complained as he sat down under the palm fronds, the ones Charlie had laid on the floor crunching slightly under his weight.

Charlie was looking around on the ground but took a moment to smile at him and reply, "Better get used to it. Taming dragons isn't easy work."

Finally, he stood up, holding two stones in his hands.

"What are you doing with those?" Draco asked, shuffling forward when Charlie crouched on the floor.

"Watch."

Draco did as he was bid, his eyebrows raising when Charlie rubbed the rocks together and sparks appeared.

"You can actually make fire without a wand," he murmured, his eyes wide.

Charlie just chuckled. "You've had a really sheltered upbringing, haven't you?"

Draco didn't reply.

…

"So, are you impressed with my mad skills?" Charlie asked, as he sat back on the palm fronds, a fire crackling cheerfully, emanating warmth against the chill left by the setting sun.

Draco cracked a smile. "I've never seen anything like that before. But then, I grew up with house elves doing more or less everything manual for me, and well, you know what Hogwarts is like."

Charlie nodded. "I don't suppose you were ever given the chance to explore when you were a child, huh."

Draco shook his head. "I never really knew that I was supposed to want to, you know?"

Laying back, propping himself up on his arms, Charlie said, "Tell me about you. I've wondered about my soulmate since I was fifteen."

Draco scoffed. "I'm sure you already know about me, from your brother, the papers. Everyone knows about Draco Malfoy."

"Maybe they do. I just want to know about Draco. What's your favourite colour? Food? Animal? Why do you want to be a dragon tamer?"

Draco blinked. "Erm. Favourite colour is green. Food… I don't know. I like chocolate, " he said with a shrug.

"Doesn't count," Charlie replied. "Everybody likes chocolate."

"Okay, I like macaroons. I had them with my mother in France."

Charlie nodded. "Acceptable. Continue."

"Dragons… it was the Triwizard tournament. I mean, they were all beautiful, but when I saw the Horntail I just…"

The look on his face must have explained it for him, because Charlie grinned. "That beauty was Henrietta. She's my baby."

"I can think of a lot of words to explain her, but… Baby?"

"I reared her," Charlie explained. "So she's mine, and I'm hers. You'll understand, once you've been trained and the time comes when you get to rear one yourself."

Draco could only nod. "So what about you? What was it like, growing up with so many siblings?"

It was the one thing that Draco had always been jealous of where the Weasel was concerned: the big family.

"Noisy. And messy. But also… comforting. I was never lonely growing up, whereas I would suspect an only child would be."

Sighing, Draco replied, "I never knew I was lonely until I went to Hogwarts."

Charlie reached out, cuffing Draco's cheek lightly. "You'll not be lonely at the reserve. We're like a family in a way; complete with bitching, arguing and knowing that people will have your back no matter what."

Draco didn't answer because he didn't know what to say. Instead he lay down beside Charlie and closed his eyes.

He felt Charlie do the same a few moments later.

…

"So, why Romania?"

Draco startled. He hadn't been expecting Charlie to speak, they'd spent much of the day in a comfortable silence.

"I told you. I fell in love with dragons in my fourth year."

Charlie raised his eyebrow. "I didn't ask why dragons. I asked why Romania. There's a reserve in Wales that you could've gone too and continued living near friends and family."

Draco shrugged. "I thought, you know, new country, new start."

"Uh huh."

They fell into silence again, though this time Draco wasn't so comfortable. He was twitchy, unable to keep himself still.

"I wanted to get away from my name. From my father. I wanted to be Draco, Dragon Tamer, not Draco Malfoy, Death Eater, Son of Lucius, you know?"

Charlie looked up at him and offered him a small smile. "You wanted to be you, without a past mistake to haunt you."

Draco nodded, thankful Charlie had understood so quickly.

He knew he'd made the right decision when his limbs stopped twitching and the comfortable silence returned.

"I'm going to go find food. You coming?"

Draco shrugged. "Why not?"

…

It was hammering with rain. Draco shivered against the sudden cold, thunder rumbling overhead. The storm had come from nowhere and the two of them had quickly run into the shelter for cover, not that palm fronds were much of a match should lightning decide to strike.

"Hopefully this won't last too long," Charlie commented quietly.

Draco nodded, wrapping his arms around himself, his teeth chattering. Charlie stared at him for a moment, then reached out with one strong arm, pulling Draco into his side.

"How are you warm right now?" Draco gasped, relishing the heat.

Charlie chuckled. "I run hot."

"Yes you do," Draco murmured, snuggling further into his side even as he blushed as he realised what he'd said out loud. Charlie merely chuckled again.

"What if nobody finds us here?" Draco asked after a moment. "What if this is us, stranded here forever?"

Charlie rubbed his arm. "Don't worry about it. We'll be out of here soon."

"How could you possibly know that?" Draco demanded.

Charlie hushed him gently. "Have a bit of faith."

…

Two days passed by and the storm cleared, Draco's skin was pink with sunburn. He hated it, he looked like he was constantly blushing.

Although, with Charlie walking around without his t-shirt on, he thought that perhaps it was a good disguise to _hide_ his blushing.

He was alone on the beach; Charlie had gone to find them sustenance once more and _holy fuck is that a dragon?_

Before Draco could stumble back into the cover of the forest, Charlie is there, waving the dragon down, whistling loudly.

The Hungarian Horntail, the one from the Tournament that Draco would recognise anywhere, landed on the sand. He watched with disbelief as she crept forward, careful of her large stature, and _nuzzled_ Charlie.

"I told you we'd get out of here," Charlie murmured, looking over at Draco with shining eyes and a wide smile.

"That's a, Jesus fucking Christ, Charlie. Warning might have been nice; that's a fucking dragon!"

Charlie blinked. "Well what did you expect, a fucking turkey?"

Draco can only stare in disbelief as he turns back to the dragon.

"Did you miss me, girl?" he murmured against her scales. "I missed you. Draco, come say hi."

Draco stumbled forward, freezing when the dragon's eyes settled on him, smoke puffing from her nose.

"Easy, Henrietta," Charlie murmured. "This is Draco, he won't hurt you, girl. Easy."

Draco managed to get close enough that if he reached out, he'd be able to touch her. Charlie took his hand, stretching it for him, pressing it lightly against her scales.

"Ready to get out of here?"

"More than," Draco agreed.

"Up you get then."

"Up… up where?"

"Did you want to sit in her mouth? I thought her back might be more comfortable for the ride."

…

Flying by dragon in a dream is a lot more comfortable then flying by dragon in reality, Draco realised quickly.

Charlie had helped him up before swinging himself up onto her back as though it was most normal thing in the world. His hands settled on Draco's waist like they were made to be there as Henrietta opened her wings up and took off from the beach.

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked, about half an hour into the journey.

Draco nodded, his body stiff with both the chill of the air, and his discomfort.

"Here, flip this leg over her side so that your legs are together, like sidesaddle on a horse."

"Are you insane?" Draco demanded. "If I do that, I will fall, and I will _die."_

Charlie chuckled in his ear. "You won't die. Just… trust me. I won't let you fall, okay?"

Draco remained tense for a minute before slowly, he moved her leg over her back, until he was sitting sideways. Charlie scooped him up in his arms and slid forward so his knees were more comfortable in her wing joints, and then put Draco between his legs, Draco's legs dangling over one of Charlie's.

With Charlie's arms wrapped tightly around him to hold him in place, Draco slowly relaxed into his chest.

He couldn't help but think that this was even better than his dreams.

…

Henrietta landed smoothly, and with Draco still in his arms, Charlie dismounted her, sliding down her side easily. He set Draco down to the side before he turned back to Henrietta, murmuring softly to her.

As Henrietta turned away and Charlie stepped closer to Draco, a group of people came running towards them.

"CHARLIE!"

Charlie grinned, leading Draco forwards and through three gates that seemed like they were reacting to Charlie's hand.

"I fucking knew she'd find you," a woman with spiky pink hair said, striding forward in front of the group to wrap her arms around Charlie, kissing his cheek when she hugged him.

Draco shifted awkwardly at the side, drawing her attention.

"Hey kid, I'm Kate. I bet that was an epic introduction to Dragon life, being saved by a big ass Horntail."

Charlie snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Kate, Draco. Draco, Kate." To Draco he added, "Kate is one of the senior tamers, she started the same year I did."

"Yeah, yeah, come on. I bet you're both bloody starving!"

Charlie shrugged. "I could eat. Need a shower first though."

Pulling back, Kate nodded. "Yeah. You really do."

…

It didn't take Draco long to get into the swing of the reserve. He took lessons with the other trainees, ate with them, and spent the rest of his time in his hut, studying.

He avoided Charlie whenever possible. It wasn't that he didn't like the redhead, completely the opposite, but now that they were here, back to reality, the idea that the older man could want him was practically borderline insanity.

What would Charlie want him for?

A knock on the door to his hut two weeks later changed everything.

Charlie was waiting on the other side of the door, arms crossed. He looked like he was ready for a fight. Draco stood back silently to let him in. He didn't want his private life being shouted out across the reserve for all to hear, after all.

"Are you avoiding me?" Charlie asked as soon as the door was shut. "Because if you are, you're being ridiculous. I'm not an ogre. You can tell me that you're not interested."

"What?" Draco asked, frowning. "That's not, I mean, what?"

"I am one of your trainers, so I mean, you can't really avoid me forever. But it's not like I'm going to sexually harass you if you happen to be in the same room as me, you know? I like my partners to _want_ to be with me. And -"

"Charlie. Stop." Draco interrupted. "I have been avoiding you, but it was only so you didn't feel the need to 'let me down gently.' I know what you Gryffindors are like, all feelings and compassion and kindness. It was nothing to do with me not wanting you."

Charlie let his arms fall, eyeing Draco with suspicion. "So… you avoided me so I wouldn't let you down gently?"

Draco nodded. "Uh huh."

"You're a bloody idiot."

Draco's jaw fell open. "Excuse me?"

"You're excused," Charlie replied. "For your idiocy. I'll let you off this time."

"Charlie -"

"Shh. I'm going to kiss you now. So if you don't want me to, I suggest you tell me no."

Draco remained silent, and Charlie smiled. "Alright, so we're both idiots. Better?"

"You just promised me a kiss," Draco replied. "Don't tell me you're already going to prove that you can't follow through on your w-"

Draco was cut off as lips pressed against his own.

He didn't complain about being interrupted.

…

The first time they made love, they lit up Charlie's hut. It was odd. They were actually glowing while laying in the aftermath - Draco had always believed that to just be an expression.

The power sharing that Draco had always believed he wouldn't like was incredible. It wasn't so much the stealing of another's powers, as a gentle flow of magic between the two. It took a bit of getting used to.

The first time either of them needed to draw on the reserves, it was Charlie. A very heavily pregnant Henrietta had been irritated.

Human female hormones had _nothing_ on a dragon.

Draco had been in the dragon medical wing, studying on the removal of infected scales with Kate, when out of nowhere he felt drained, overheated and weak.

Kate had levitated him to the human medical wing just across the way. When Draco woke up, it was to find an overcooked Charlie in the bed beside him, pretty badly burned but thankfully alive.

It was then that Draco knew he was in love. It took him another three months to say as much.

...

Draco was cooking dinner, a rare treat for Charlie but a deserved one, Draco thought. Three years ago today, they'd been trapped on an island and Charlie had taken care of him. Of course, that had been the start of the best thing that had ever happened in Draco's life.

 _Three years._

It had passed in a flash of dragon manure, arguments, and many loving moments that had shown Draco what love really was.

What it was supposed to be.

As he was dishing up, Charlie barrelled through the door of the hut they shared, the widest smile on his face.

"What's going on?" Draco asked, almost dropping the pan when Charlie grabbed his hand and pulled.

"Woah, hold on," Draco shouted, putting the pan on the side out of harm's way. "Charlie, what's going on?"

Charlie's smile widened, if such a thing were even possible.

"They're hatching. Henrietta's babies are hatching. I'm gonna be a grandpa!"

Shaking his head at his nutcase husband, Draco followed him out of the hut, the meal forgotten. He'd never admit it, but Draco was just as excited about this as Charlie was.

* * *

 **Also Written For;**

 **Auction Prompt** \- Stranded!AU

 **Pinata** \- Chaco


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